We're Incredibly Petty."
In many associations being hard-nosed about the rules is practically the board's raison d'etre. "Some of these board members have nothing better to do. So instead of taking care of the property, they censor people's lifestyles," says Vicki Satern of Common Ownership Alliance. She needn't tell Allen Warshaw. To ward off a neighbor who had attacked him with a log, he asked his Rockville, Md., board to bend the rules. He wanted a six-foot fence, two feet taller than allowed. When the application was denied, he sued -- and lost. Warshaw wound up with the association's bills, too. The total: $23,000 in legal fees, court costs and interest.
Humbled but determined, he built a shorter fence. "I wasn't really worried because the board had told me that they don't go out and measure fences," he says. As soon as the fence was up, several board members walked over to Warshaw's yard and measured it. And indeed, in some areas the fence was a few inches over four feet. The dispute continued. "They put a lien on property," Warshaw says. "They took all my savings, and they're garnishing my paycheck. It's like I am a common criminal. It has been devastating." Says Jeffrey Van Grack, the association's attorney: "The board made numerous offers to try to work out the payments, but Mr. Warshaw refused."
Sometimes the pettiness is more subtle. When one Virginia homeowner asked for permission to hang Christmas tree lights in 1992, the board didn't like the idea but didn't know how to prevent it. "We struggled with this one," says lawyer Benny Kass, who represented the association. "But we finally concluded that the restriction against hanging lights was valid because you were pounding nails into the wood, and that was a fire hazard." Ho-ho-ho.
